Biography
Dr Susan Purchase is a clinical researcher working for the Desmond Tutu TB Centre. Her research centres on TB prevention in young children. After completing her BSc(Hons), she worked in industry for 4 years. Unable to resist the call to clinical medicine, she completed her MBChB in 2004 and then diplomas in Child Health and HIV Management. Since qualifying she has worked primarily in the field of paediatric TB and HIV. She is currently busy with her PhD in MDR-TB prevention. She loves the outdoors, travel and photography, is married and has two teenage daughters.
Key Impacts
Risk of TB infection in young children exposed to multidrug-resistant TB in the TB-CHAMP multi-site randomised controlled trial
The prevalence of infection was lower than observed in previous studies. This may be related to improved diagnosis and treatment of MDR-TB in the study setting and/or test limitations and has implications for TB preventive treatment (TPT). When considering TPT for child contacts, healthcare providers should be especially concerned about any young child exposed to an adult index patient who is his/her parent/primary caregiver, has a chronic cough and/or a history of illicit drug use.
Source: Conference 2024